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Danny Martin, PhD

Professor

Danny Bernard Martin is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, where his research focuses on understanding mathematical and racial identity development among African-American learners in middle school, high school, and community college contexts.

He is also a professor in UIC's Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science. Martin is the author of Mathematics Success and Failure Among African American Youth (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000) and editor of Mathematics Teaching, Learning, and Liberation in the Lives of Black Children (Routledge, 2009).

Education

Research & Teaching Interests

I began my work at UIC in Fall 2004 after teaching mathematics for 14 years in a California community college, where I served as Mathematics Department Chair, Principal Investigator for two National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships (CSEMS) grants, Principal Investigator for an NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) grant , and National Academy of Education Postdoctoral Fellow. I also developed and supervised two community outreach projects, Math for Moms (in conjunction with Family Math, Lawrence Hall of Science) and Saturday Math Academy, both of which promoted mathematics literacy among local parents and their children."

At UIC, I hold a joint appointment in education and mathematics and I teach mathematics courses for preservice teachers, elementary math methods, and graduate courses in mathematics education. Then, and now, my research has focused on mathematics education for African American learners and undertaking critical analyses of mathematics education policy to insure that mathematics education is responsive to the needs of these learners. My empirical studies have focused on understanding the salience of race and identity in African American struggle for mathematics literacy. My research takes into account sociohistorical, community, and school forces and draws from culture-practice theory, cultural-ecological theory, critical theories of race, and racial identity development theory. I am currently developing a perspective that frames mathematics learning and participation as racialized forms of experience. This perspective is applicable to all students.

Gholson, M., & Martin, D.B. (2014). Smart girls, Black girls mean girls, and bullies: At the intersection of identities and the mediating role of young girls’ social network in mathematics communities of practice. Journal of Education, 194(1), 19-33.

Martin, D.B., Gholson, M., & Leonard, J. (2011). Mathematics as gatekeeper: Power and privilege in the production of knowledge. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 3(2), 12-24.

McGee, E., & Martin, D. (2011). From the hood to being hooded: A case study of a Black male PhD. Journal of African American Males, 2(1), 46-65.

McGee, E., & Martin, D.B. (2011). You would not believe what I have to go through to prove my intellectual value! Stereotype management among successful Black college mathematics and engineering students. American Educational Research Journal, 48(6), 1347-1389.

Martin, D.B. (2009). Liberating the production of knowledge about African American children and mathematics. In D. Martin (Ed.), Mathematics teaching, learning, and liberation in African American contexts (pp. 3-36). London: Routledge.

Martin, D.B. (2009). Little Black boys and little Black girls: How do mathematics education and research treat them? In Swars, S. L., Stinson, D. W., & Lemons-Smith, S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 31st annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 22-41). Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University.

Martin, D.B. (2008). E(race)ing race from a national conversation on mathematics teaching and learning: The National Math Panel as white institutional space. The Montana Math Enthusiast, 5(2&3), 387-398.

Martin, D.B. (2007). Beyond missionaries or cannibals: Who should teach mathematics to African American children? The High School Journal, 91(1), 6-28.

Martin, D.B. (2007). Mathematics learning and participation in the African American context: The Co-construction of identity in two intersecting realms of experience. In N. Nasir & P. Cobb (Eds.), Diversity, equity, and access to mathematical ideas (pp. 146-158). New York: Teachers College Press.